Console gaming was given new life with the launch of the Nintendo Switch. Since then, it seems like the new normal for consoles is to walk the tightrope between being portable and being a full-fledged console. Only recently, we saw Valve announce a competitor to Nintendo’s most popular console with the Steam Deck. It seems like the Switch may have another competitor coming its way with the Lenovo “Legion Play”.
I know, I know – we don’t usually cover leaks here at techENT but this was too good to ignore.
We’re all familiar with Lenovo’s Legion brand. It’s the company’s lineup made for gamers. They have been releasing some of the best performing and looking laptops since their inception and, of course, the Legion Phone Duel lineup. It seems like they are looking to include hand-held consoles to their repertoire as well.
The Lenovo Legion Play was accidentally uncovered by users over at GBAtemp.net on Lenovo’s MWC 2021 website. That said, the Legion Play was never officially announced at MWC 2021 or Lenovo’s Tech World. Instead, the images that were discovered were pretty well hidden and their links lead to a blank page.
The Lenovo Legion Play seems to be an Android-powered handheld console. However, the write up indicates that this console may not support any physical media. Instead, it’s referred to as a “cloud-gaming console”. This could mean that Lenovo isn’t developing this alone. In fact, one of the renders features NVIDIA’s GeForce NOW front and centre. However, this clearly indicates that Lenovo is looking to take on the Steam Deck with cloud gaming.
While we don’t really know the full specs of the device, from what was stumbled upon, it looks like quite the machine. It comes with a 7-inch FHD display with a 16:9 aspect ratio. The display has HDR10 support and the Legion Play itself seems to have built-in controllers, dual speakers and dual vibration motors. It’s also powered by a 7,000mAh battery.
From the renders, we can make out a D-pad, two analogue sticks, the A, B, X, Y buttons, and shoulder buttons. There may possibly be a few more buttons on the face of the console. The overall design looks really sleek – reminiscent of a PS Vita. Renders also show a custom interface atop Android. The interface seems to take a few cues from the Nintendo Switch. With games being front and centre while other apps take the backseat under them.
While we don’t really know much else, the Legion Play could have been a really interesting device to have in the market. It could also be priced more affordably than their Legion Phone Duel. However, we can’t be sure if the machine will ever see the light of day. Lenovo could choose to forgo launching the Legion Play indefinitely or we could see it launched in the next few months.
